This Is JNPR
by taking it easy
Summary: "Like the berry." When Yang drags Ruby to a concert for a hot band, Ruby is put out. Concerts aren't really her scene. But, then she runs into a cute guy - literally. The problem is that she met this guy at a concert for a band she has never really experienced before. Well, time for her to give it a shot.
1. JNPR, Like The Berry

"Ah, Yang!" Ruby Rose reached her free hand behind her to smooth her red cape as Yang dragged by other arm into the loud building. "I've never even heard of Jupiter. Why are you dragging me to a loud concert?"

"It's JNPR, Rubes," Her blonde half-sister replied to Ruby's whine, "I know this isn't really your thing, but Blake was busy and it'd be lame to go on my own! Besides," Yang Xiao-Long continued in sing-song.

"You may meet a cute boy~." The bodacious blonde looked behind her to wink at the shorter sister.

"Yang!" Ruby flinched back, "I don't wanna meet some rowdy concert goer!"

"What's wrong with 'rowdy concert goer's?" Yang gestured to herself. "We're perfectly date-worthy!"

Ruby's rebuttal was cut off as they reached the entrance. The security guard dutifully examined the tickets before shifting out of the girls' way.

Stumbling after her sister, Ruby muttered, " _I_ wouldn't date you, though."

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

Yang grinned as she pulled the brunette along, nearing their seats, "Okay, we're right here, a few rows from the front. See?" She showed the numbers, "The concert doesn't start until three—"

"What!? Why'd we have to get here thirty minutes early!?"

"So _I_ can scope out some hotties, duh." Yang leered around the hall at other fans. "So, anyway, don't lose your ticket, and be back here at three. You have your scroll, yeah?" Ruby nodded, patting her pocket. "Money for food and stuff?" Ruby nodded again, looking bored. "Excellent. Now, at least try and meet someone!" Yang playfully shoved her sister as she jogged off.

"Ugh. Drag me all the way to this _stupid_ concert just to abandon me?" Ruby whined pitifully, gazing at the ceiling as she headed toward the snack stands. "Why couldn't she have— oof!"

"Ah, sorry about that. I wasn't looking where I was going."

Ruby looked at the offending boy. He had scruffy blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and was at least a head taller than her. The brunette felt a surge of heat leaking into her face as she stammered. "Ah! No, it was my fault, too!" She flailed her arms about frantically, trying to wave it off, "I wasn't watching either."

"Heh, my name's Jaune Arc. It's short, sweet, and rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it."

Feeling redder than her cape, Ruby tried to think of a witty reply.

"Y-Yeah, I do."

That was not what she had in mind.

It seemed to surprise Jaune as well, she noted. A flush was creeping slowly onto his face, but he took it in stride. "So, did you come here alone, or with someone?"

Ruby shrank back, remembering her sister, "Ah, I came with someone." She looked back at Jaune to see some of the confidence shimmer away.

"Oh. I guess I should let you get then, huh?"

"No!" Her blush grew brighter, "I mean – No, you don't have to. I'll meet her again when the show starts. We're sitting next to each other and everything. And I like you— I mean—Like _talking_ to you."

"Uh, her?" Jaune quirked an eyebrow before flinching, "Oh! Sorry, I didn't mean to assume."

"Assume what?"

A worried look creeped onto the boy's face, "Ah, I just meant that – not that there's anything wrong with –" He stopped and took a deep breath, "I have nothing against lesbians. I'm sorry."

Three whole seconds passed as she stared at the blonde before – "ACK! Ugh! No!" Ruby made a show of gagging, but collapsed into giggles, "She's my sister, she dragged me to this concert because her friend was busy tonight. We're not on a _date._ We're not dating. We're not even lesbian."

"Oh," Jaune chuckled hesitantly before furrowing his brows in a quizzical look, "Wait, 'dragged'?"

"Hehe, yeah. I'm not really a 'concert' person. I don't really like going to them." Her mirthful smile morphed quickly into a visage of horror, "Not that there's anything wrong with them, they're just not my thing. I've, uh, never even heard of these Jeweler guys."

Jaune chuckled, "JNPR. Like the berry? So, you've never heard their music before?"

"Nope."

"Well," he reached into his pocket for a pen and paper, "If you like them tonight, you should call me." He made a show of writing down his number, finishing with a flourish befitting of most celebrities. "We can jam out to them together sometime."

Ruby smiled as she took the slip from him, "I'd like that." She looked at the digits, admiring the penmanship. When she looked back up, the boy was gone.

Yang arrived back at the seats a few minutes later to see a very accomplished-looking Ruby happily chewing on some chips from the snack stands.

"Hey, sis, you haven't been just sitting here the whole time, I see." The older sibling snatched a chip from the bag, "Did you at least see someone at the stands?"

"As a matter of fact," Ruby replied, a smug look overtaking her face, "I _did_. And he _was_ cute. _And_ I _totally_ got his number." She brandished the slip of paper.

Yang whistled lowly, "Seven whole digits. Impressive." She smirked, "So, what'd this 'cute' guy look like, hm? And did my little pick-up pro get a name to match the face?"

Ruby let the teasing tone wash over her and looked the other way, sticking her nose up in victory, "He was tall, and blonde, and had blue eyes," She missed Yang's look of growing suspicion. "And he said his name was Jaune Arc." Ruby harrumphed smugly, also missing the gasp and gape Yang gave at the news.

"Oh, hey, the shows starting." Yang schooled her expression before Ruby turned to her, and did her best to not give away her amusement. As the brunette leaned forward, ready to try to enjoy the band that Yang had dragged her out here for, and that had scored her a guy's number, Yang waited to see her reaction to the band.

A tall blonde man strutted out onto the stage. "Good evening, Vale!" He exclaimed cheerily into the microphone as musicians filtered onto stage behind him.

Yang found herself trying in vain to stifle snickers at Ruby's face.

Jaune leaned over as a roadie slung his guitar over his shoulders for him, "I hope your feet are secure because we are JNPR, and we're here to rock your socks off!"


	2. The Morning After

_**You thought this would just be a one-shot? … So did I.**_

Yang Xiao Long groaned into her pillow as her younger sister's worries cascaded from the Ruby Rose's mouth in a long stream of negativity.

The insecurity was completely unfounded, the blonde decided, since _Jaune_ had been the one to give his number.

That had amused her at the time, how Ruby had scored a number from one of the most famous teenagers in Vale, alongside Pyrrha Nikos – women's MMA champion-turned-bassist for JNPR – and Weiss Schnee – talented solo singer.

Now, however, the prospect of _Jaune Arc_ giving her sister his number without prompt irked her. The idea left her insides unsettled in an unpleasant way. Yang loved her sister, but she knew that the brunette could act dorky and socially awkward at the best of times. Someone like Jaune Arc taking interest in her was strange, to say the least. Yang should be the one worrying, not Ruby.

"Ugh," Yang groaned again, flipping herself to face her sister, "Then just text him."

Ruby perked up from her position on the floor. Her scroll was lying beside her, unlocked and ready to call Jaune Arc at the press of a green button.

Ruby slumped again, "But what if –"

"If you do not, _I_ will."

Her remark elicited a yelp from the younger sibling, and Yang heard Ruby whining quietly, "Yang, no…"

"Text him."

Yang observed silently as Ruby sighed and reached for her scroll.

. . .

Pyrrha Nikos awoke in JNPR's shared bedroom – they had been close this way since the beginning – to a familiar recording of one of Jaune's early acoustic riffs. Sleepily, the former fighter turned to the bed adjacent her own, to see Jaune still dead asleep, and his scroll alight with a message.

Red hair fell from its messy tangle in clumps on her shoulders as she groggily rose from her hotel bed. She reached over and grabbed the blonde's scroll.

It was a message from an unfamiliar number that made Pyrrha's eyebrows furrow.

" _Hey, it's Ruby the girl from last night"_

A frown wormed onto the bassist's face. Had Jaune been with a girl last night? That was so unlike him, he rarely indulged in the perks of fame. He flirted on occasion, but never seriously, and Pyrrha never knew Jaune to bed anyone – he was too gentlemanly after growing up with seven sisters.

Perhaps it was a wrong number? But he had been out late last night. And it would be rude to dismiss the girl if she _were_ with Jaune. And Jaune would not want her answering for him in personal matters anyway. Should she wake him? He was out late, he should get some rest. What of the girl, though? Would she –

"Whatcha got there, Pyrrha?"

The ensuing scream woke Jaune up, making the redhead's decision for her. She whirled around to see Nora Valkyrie's face inches from her own.

"N-Nora! You startled me!"

"Sorry," the reply came with a giggle.

Pyrrha attempted to calm her racing heart as she glanced at Jaune, who was slowly stretching his unclothed torso. A blush rose unbidden onto Pyrrha's face at the sight of the blonde.

"Well, Pyrrha?"

"Hm? Oh, Jaune received a message." She held the blonde's scroll in offering, allowing him to read this 'Ruby's missive. The redhead observed a small crease in his brow as he reached for his scroll.

"Hm, Ruby? Doesn't sound familiar,"

Perhaps it was a wrong number, Pyrrha mused as she went into the bathroom.

. . .

Ruby bit her lip as she turned over on the floor yet again. "Yang, he's not saying anything. What do I do?"

The brunette listened as a sigh escaped her sister's lips. "Try saying something else." A suspicious murmur followed. "How did you score with a rock star, again?" She ignored it.

Ruby retreated into her red blankets as she fiddled with the keys and went through no less than four possible responses.

She was still agonizing over exactly what to say when Yang unceremoniously yanked her scroll from her hands and began typing.

"Yang, no!" The younger girl lunged up at her sister.

"Yang, yes." The older sibling held a foot forward to stop Ruby in her tracks. Pale skinny arms flailed awkwardly in a futile attempt to secure her possession.

Yang gleefully hit 'send' before allowing Ruby to procure her scroll once more.

It took one look at the text before all color drained from the brunette's face and a loud whine erupted from her mouth.

"Yaaang…"

. . .

An acoustic guitar sounded off again before Jaune could send a response.

" _So I was wondering if you'd enjoy a merry Jaune-t through town?"_

Nora booed at the scroll in Jaune's hand, clearly unimpressed with the joke. While the blonde was reeling from the ginger's sudden appearance at his side, Nora snatched his scroll and hurriedly replied in his stead.

" _Boo that joke was lame"_

"Hey – Nora! Give it back!"

The ginger offered zero resistance and happily skipped over to the pull-out couch where Lie Ren lay asleep. Jaune shook his head as Nora chattered happily before turning back to his scroll.

He failed to get a single word typed before his received another text.

" _Sorry! My sisters being a pest as always"_ It seemed like a recovery – and not a poor one, Jaune supposed – Ruby trying to take back her comment. Then the next messages came in a flash and jogged the blonde's memory.

" _Anyway I liked your concert and if you still wanna jam sometime"_

" _I mean we don't have to obviously"_

" _I was just thinking we could"_

"It's that girl from the concert!" Jaune found himself saying. Pyrrha glanced at him quizzically as she dried off her hair. "The cute one I met at the snack stands before the show?" He had told them about the encounter just before they had gone on stage. The girl had been awkward but adorable and he had failed to stop the attraction.

. . .

Silver eyes flicked between gazing at her scroll in strife and in exasperation at her sister.

"You may have ruined it, Yang." She stated again, not having anything else to say.

Yang, to her credit, did look apologetic. She clearly had not expected such a negative reaction – Ruby knew it, too. But even as introverted as she could get sometimes, the brunette _still_ wanted a boyfriend; having one who was also good-looking and famous and _interested_ was even better.

Ruby's ringtone sounded moments before Yang could apologize again. Homemade ninja noises greeting the brunette's ears dutifully.

The first 'hi-YAH' was interrupted when the messaging app was opened in record time.

" _Sounds good. I'm free tomorrow around 2"_

 _ **So I had this idea where Pyrrha was going to answer for Jaune, and be worried it was some stalker that had gotten a hold of his number. Then Jaune would wake up and see it and be like "No Pyrrha Ruby's that cute girl I told you about what are you doing?!"**_

 _ **But then I realized that Ruby didn't introduce herself properly. Whoops.**_


	3. Sprucing Up the Dating Life

_**Finally got around to writing Part Three! The FINAL part. The conclusion. The Finale. No more after this**_

… _**Probably.**_

Jaune adjusted the cap on his head as he arrived at his destination. It was a nondescript, neutral location where his manager would be monitoring him while also giving some privacy. It was the best the best they could do, since the others hadn't even met this girl.

Admittedly, he was worried, too. But she seemed nice enough, and he liked to stay optimistic.

He strolled into the area and noticed Ruby was already there, fidgeting nervously as she tried to set up a television set.

"Uh, need some help?" He asked gently, not wanting to startle the young woman.

It didn't work. Ruby yelped and jumped up, nearly banging her head on the table and toppling the TV over as well.

"Jaune! Hi!" She beamed at him, "So, I brought video games and movies."

"Cool," He quirked a grin her way, and set down his coat and cap on the back of a chair. "What kinds? Got any Spruce Willis?"

Ruby's brilliant smile seemed to light up even more, "Do I!? I've got _all_ the Spruce Willis! Where d'you wanna start?" She started picking up various movies, rattling off the different titles and rambling about what she thought of each one.

Jaune thought it couldn't be cuter.

Minutes later, and Ruby grabbed a handful of freshly popped popcorn and shoved in her mouth, eyes never leaving the screen.

They had settled on _Die Horde,_ a somewhat cheesy action movie about a Mistralian Cop who had to save a group of Hostages from a group of terrorist-zombies. It was _extremely_ far-fetched, but that was why they liked it.

They both cheered – nearly spilling popcorn everywhere – when Spruce leapt onto the screen to simultaneously behead one zombie and impale another on his currently unloaded gun.

"You know," Jaune said as Spruce started sneaking through a corridor, being careful not to alert guard-zombie-terrorists of his presence, "Because of movies like this, I wanted to be a hero when I grew up." He smiled and tossed a few kernels into his mouth, "Not like an action hero, though. I wanted to be a knight."

Ruby snorted at the image, "I want to be a cop. Always have, even before I saw these movies."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Mom always loved helping people, and I do, too, so I figure, you know, might well make a career out of it!"

Spruce tied a terrorombie up in a water hose, and hung it by the legs over the side of the building, and turned towards the helicopter –

Jaune, however, wasn't paying attention. He couldn't look away from Ruby's entranced expression, watching the hero save the day. He tried picturing Ruby doing those crazy stunts and saving people from zombie-terrorists.

He found the idea of Ruby as some crime-fighting vigilante far more enticing.

"I think you'd make an amazing superhero, like X-Ray or Vav." It slipped out before he could help it. He has loved the dorky comic books for as long as he could remember, and all of JNPR knew it. He hadn't ever had to censor himself before.

But now he was with a cute girl who might think it was –

His train of thought ended when Ruby's eyes jumped from the red blood on the screen to the blue expanses of Jaune's irises.

"You like _X-Ray and Vav,_ too!?"

Not what he was expecting.

"I have _Return of the Mad King,_ for like – like _three_ different consoles – you wanna play!?"

Her eyes – a unique kind of silver he'd never experienced before – shone at him from her sockets as she held a case up to him

 _X-Ray and Vav: Return of the Mad King._ Three different copies, for three different consoles, just as she said.

He glanced toward the TV, looking at the innocuously placed consoles that he hadn't noticed before.

"I call Vav."

. . .

Four hours. They had spent four hours playing that game.

They had beaten co-op mode, too. They had rocked as a team. It had been _really_ fun. Now it was over.

Jaune, ever the gentleman, hoisted Ruby's bag of entertainment onto his shoulder, carrying for her out to the car. Singular. He was going to get to stay by her side a little bit longer.

She had ridden with her sister to get here, apparently, and since it went well, Jaune had offered to take her home in his car – Ren's car, really, since Jaune hadn't gotten a license.

Of course, he hadn't thought about that offer, and now he might throw up – because of his motion sickness, and while Ren understood and Jaune had even prepared with several paper bags, he didn't want to _vomit_ in front of this girl. That would be humiliating.

. . .

As it happened, he had avoided the embarrassment of vomiting in front of his cute date. Ren, ever the amazing friend, had stayed silent, kept his music low, and took a slow, gentle path to Ruby's block.

Jaune had never been more grateful. He'd have to arrange something special. Maybe they could go visit Kuroyuri for a special concert or something –

"Well, this is my stop." Ruby's awkward voice pulled him from his thoughts, and Jaune practically exploded out the door and around to Ruby's side to open hers.

Smooth.

Ruby giggled and stepped out of Ren's car, and Jaune stepped behind the machine to pull her bag out of the trunk before walking with her up to her apartment.

They stood at the front door for a moment or two, and Jaune's attention was grabbed by the gentle pressure Ruby's teeth was applying to her lower lip. Every instinct told him "You don't kiss on the first date," but it was _very_ tempting to –

"Ruby! Tell me _everything!_ " A blonde woman, Ruby's sister, he supposed, slammed the door open and shut, pulling Ruby in during that brief reprieve without any tact whatsoever.

Before Jaune could react, the door opened again, and Jaune barely caught a glimpse of Ruby's rosy face before Yang yanked the bag from him, shouting, "Thanks, man! Ya done good!" in his ear before slamming the door in his face again.

Well, that was a thing.


	4. Dating Advice

_**Ugh. This was supposed to be a ONESHOT. I think I forgot to click "Complete" when posting it, though, so now I got all these people reviewing because they're disappointed!?**_

… _**Which actually makes me insanely happy, like, you would not**_ **believe** _ **how happy this makes me that people like this story. I love me my Rom-Coms, too. So…. Happy Holidays, Dear Readers.**_

 _ **Grumble-mumble, peer pressure, mumble-wumble.**_

Jaune buried his face – which was burning up and beet red – into his pillow as Nora continued rambling on about how cute he was when he was infatuated.

"… And unlike Weiss, this Ruby girl actually _likes you back!_ " Nora spread her arms out in a grandiose gesture, before turning to the side and adding a very audible mumble, "No idea _why,_ but hey!"

Ren, Jaune's new best friend, jabbed Nora in the ribs to silence the ginger.

"Hey! I was kidding! What's not to like? You're famous! And you can sing! And… You're famous!"

"Yay… Two whole positives. Careful, Nora, or you'll give me a big head." Jaune grumbled from his suffocating position.

"Oh, Jaune, she's only teasing," Pyrrha pet his back in some attempt at comfort.

As Ren graciously herded Nora away – some promise of pancakes, Jaune hadn't been paying attention – Pyrrha pulled him by the hood to a sitting position, "See? Nora's gone," She smiled gently at the blonde, "So… Give me details before she comes back."

Jaune tried flooping back to his pillow, but Pyrrha's grip was ironclad.

. . .

"Yang! Stop! Let go!"

The bodacious blonde was currently suspending Ruby in the air by the smaller girl's armpits. As athletic as she was, Yang found the feat to be easy.

"Not until you tell me _everything._ "

"We just watched a movie and played _X-Ray and Vav._ "

"You were on a _date - w_ ith a superstar!" Yang's eyes were practically shining, "Sis, that's _awesome!_ You two must have talked or something, right? You didn't just sit around in awkward silence, right?"

"Oof!" Suddenly, Ruby found her flustered face finding the floor, as Yang had dropped her without warning.

"You _didn't_ just sit around in awkward silence the whole time, did you?" Yang failed to let Ruby answer before jumping to her own conclusions, "Ugh! Ruby, you're so _useless!_ How hard is it to talk to a guy?"

"We talked plenty!"

"Then tell me what you talked about! I'm _dying_ here!" Yang bounced in place as Ruby stood to dust herself off.

"Well, for one, I know he's a total Mama's Boy."

Yang's eyebrow rose at the statement, "Really? Explain,"

The younger sister nodded and sat down, "Yeah, he kept mentioning his mom, like: 'My mom always said that so-and-so,' or 'Mom once told me that blah-blah-blah.'"

"And… Did you tell him about…?" Yang let the delicate question trail off.

"Nah, he didn't ask, and it didn't really come up. He mostly just mentioned things his mom said – oh! That's why he was so willing to go out with some random stranger!"

"Oh?"

"'My mom says strangers are just friends you haven't met yet,'" Ruby sat straight, doing her best 'Male Superstar' impression.

"So you two are… _friends_?"

. . .

Jaune paused at the question.

"Jaune…?"

"I-I didn't _say_ it was a date _._ It never came up. And she never said anything either," Jaune turned toward his redhead bassist so quickly she swore he'd have whiplash. "How do I know?!"

Leaning back quickly, Pyrrha brought up her arms, "U-uh! I don't know? Did you two, er, kiss afterward?"

"No!" Jaune was spiraling, and that was _never_ a good thing. "I thought kissing on the first date would be too forward! Oh man, did I mess up?"

"Well," Pyrrha kept her tone came, trying to assuage his fears. "Did _she_ look like she _wanted_ to kiss you?"

Jaune blinked, "R-right, because if she wanted—her sister! Her sister pulled her inside so quickly, we didn't really get a chance," Jaune's hands rose to his hair, ruffling it in his worried state.

"O-oh. Well, did she-"

Nora burst back into the room at that moment, three pancakes dangling from her mouth and easily another ten sitting on her plate. Ren followed shortly after her. "Ooh! Ooh!" The ginger immediately injected herself back into their conversation, keeping up with the topic easily and revealing that she had been eavesdropping. "Did she give you _The Look_?"

"The look?" Jaune asked, glancing to Pyrrha for help. The redhead shrugged helplessly as Nora answered.

" _The Look_! You know, where she –" The hyperactive ginger made some vague expression while gulping down a whole pancake "—kinda bites her lip and gazes _lovingly_ into-"

"Nora, stop teasing him," Ren sighed, settling next to the three of them with a second plate of pancakes.

"N-no, no. She _did_ do that." The blonde singer recalled, "Right as we got to her door, she paused and looked like that,"

Nora's smug expression made Ren sigh and concede, "She _totally_ wanted to make out, then,"

. . .

" _YANG!"_

"I'm just saying," the blonde waved her arms gently, failing to mollify her mortified little sister, "I saw the way you two were staring-"

"I wasn't staring!"

"—at each other," She continued as if uninterrupted, "And I just stopped you from seeming too desperate, is all."

"D-desperate?"

"Yeah. He's a _rockstar,_ Rubes." Yang gave the girl a patronizing pat on the head, "You got to show him you're in his league, or it just won't work."

"Really? And, um, how do I do that?"

"Well, step one: Don't try to make out on the first date."

"I-I-I wasn't trying to—"


	5. These Hopeless Dorks

Jaune Arc paced back and forth in front of the door, hoping to calm his nerves. He and Ruby Rose were about to go on their second outing, and he had purposefully picked a more romantic venue to get the point across that it was a date.

They had been texting a lot, and Jaune had been trying to flirt, but had been getting mixed signals.

" _Hey, we should go out again."_

" _As in not some private room? Like out to a restaurant or something?"_

" _I mean, yeah… Anywhere in particular you wanna go? Like Cinder's?"_

Cinder's Grill was a high-end restaurant in Vale, near the hotel JNPR usually stayed at. Although its name doesn't portray it, Cinder's Grill actually had a comfortable ambiance and provided a romantic environment with all its red tones and fiery motifs.

Jaune had hoped that suggesting an obviously romantic choice would get the point across that he wanted to date Ruby. The brunette's response, however, was… not what he hoped for.

…

" _Likes Cinder's?"_

"That's so upper-class!" Yang hollered as she and Ruby flopped down on the younger sister's bed.

"Ugh! I _know!_ What do I do?! I wouldn't fit in in a place like that! I felt out-of-place at our school dances!"

"Yeah, but it'd just be you and Jaune?" The blonde winked at her, summoning a fierce fluster to her face.

"Ya-ang! Sto-op!" Ruby half-hearted slapped at her mirthful sister as she typed in her response. "Besides, I don't want to seem super eager, right? So, uh, I'll just—" the brunette bit her lip as she looked at the half-types message, "I'll let him know that I'm not really a fancy, pancy, dancy girl, and I won't seem like I'm just dating him for his money or fame or anything! It's a win-win!"

"If you say so, Rubes…" Yang's amusement didn't end, though.

…

"… _too fancy-pancy for me lol. How about…"_

That… Told him _absolutely_ nothing. She turned down the romantic option for other, less costly options.

But what did that _mean?_

"I-I don't know?" Pyrrha had looked so put out at that. "I mean, she could just not like fancy things? Or maybe she didn't want you to spend too much money on her?"

"Or maybe," Nora interjected with a grin, "She doesn't think it's a date, so she expects to pay for her part herself and just can't afford it."

"Aw, you think?" Jaune frowned, pacing quicker. "Should I clarify? Or would that seem too desperate? What if she _does_ just want a more casual setting?"

…

"He's not texting back…? Yang! He's not texting back! What-do-I-do?!"

"Calm down," the blonde caught her little sister before the latter could start running up walls – they didn't need her wrecking the place any time soon. "Something probably came up and he's doing something right now. Or maybe his manager came to talk to them? He _is_ famous, so maybe he's dealing with paparazzi or just some random fan asking for his autograph or something? Just cool it, Sis."

"You're right. You're right." Ruby took a deep breath, and nearly choked on air, "Wait! What if going somewhere less fancy means he's more likely to get crowded?! I'm gonna change my answer!"

"Ruby—" Yang leaned forward to snag her sister by the collar, but Ruby had already escaped her wingspan and leapt to her phone.

…

"Okay, what if I—Oh! She sent another— ' _Actually, if you're worried about being crowed, then a place like Cinder's wold be smart huh? Since other fence people won't get all freaked out huh?'"_ Jaune squinted at the message, "Huh? Uh, Pyrrha? Help?"

One glance at his phone and Pyrrha shrugged helplessly, "Maybe it's a typo?"

Several more messages followed quickly, holding various corrections, and Jaune relaxed.

"Ugh, this texting thing is hard work…"

"Just remember to reply at some point."

…

Ruby stared at her messages with great disdain, "Ugh—Why…?" She flopped her head face down, letting her voice be muffled by the fabrics on her bed, "Stupeh auwocorrec nah pickin up mah mithtaykth…"

Yang picked Ruby up bodily, tossing the smaller body over her shoulder and striding out of the room, leaving her phone behind, "Okay, you obviously need to cool down a bit. Jaune's probably just busy. _It happens."_

Ruby collapsed on the couch when Yang dropped her there, then the blonde slumped down beside her and turned on the TV.

"But what if he—"

"If he texts you back, then _you_ can just say _you_ were busy. Problem solved."

"Right. You're right. Thanks, Yang."

"Anything for my hopeless little sister."

"Hey!"

…

"… Okay! I sent it."

" _I hadn't thought about that. I just thought that it'd be nice to go somewhere nice."_

"Nothing too committal. I'm showing her I want to impress, but not necessarily be romantic or clingy, like you said." The blonde musician looked to his bassist, "Thanks, Pyrrha. I don't know what I'd do without you here helping me."

Pyrrha giggled and Jaune finally let himself lie down.

One minute passed… Then two… Then five…

"… She isn't responding. Oh crap! She isn't saying anything?! Did I say something wrong? Ah! Pyrrha, you useless yutz!"

"… what?"


	6. Cinders Lying to Sparks Flying

_**Sorry? Idk, this story has been kind of low priority. From now on I'll probably update it more often though. Like, preferably once a week. We can dream, right?**_

Cinder's was a classier place. Hot colors, deep tones, exceedingly heated atmosphere… The entire place was almost stifling. The staff, in contrast, was ice-cold in demeanor. That was part of the allure of the restaurant, Jaune guessed. Where some places would have warm ambiance and kind waitstaff, Cinder's turned up the heat and turned down the amicability. It made it all more... _intimate._

That just meant that they felt incredibly awkward.

. . .

Ruby stretched as they exited the building prematurely. She was uncomfortable – her date had just effectively wasted an undoubtedly large amount of money on her– and crestfallen – she had ended up deciding they should go there and it blew up in her face. She began a half-hearted apology, turning to her blonde companion.

Jaune was transfixed on his stomach, though. And his stomach was growling.

The palor in her round face worsened, but before she could bring forth an apologetic monologue, Jaune interrupted – "Hey, you wanna just get a burger? We didn't really get to eat that much…"

Jaune pointed across the street, "There's a nice little karaoke joint a block over. We, uh, we don't have to sing or anything, but they have good food."

Desperate to not _seem_ desperate, Ruby fought down the tears of relief, and she nodded at the star, "Sure. Sounds good."

Jaune, oblivious, smiled at her, and led her down the street, content with his hand in hers.

The walk was silent, in a comfortable way, but Ruby was near aching to speak, to question. "Are you having fun? Is this okay? Am I doing this right?"

But the words of her sister rang through her head, loud and clear as when they had been spoken, "Listen, Sis, you gotta trust yourself. _Everybody_ gets nervous in new situations. You just need to trust that things are going okay. If you start being unsure, then that negativity is just gonna ruin your date, okay? So, save all your insecurities until you get back here, where your awesome big sister will be ready to help!"

The words had been accompanied by an upturned thumb, and it alleviated many concerns.

. . .

Dinner had gone well, Jaune thought. He hadn't pushed Ruby, he had stayed gentlemanly. He hadn't left her side – except for two bathroom-breaks. He had followed his friends' advice of not trying too hard to impress her – they were right, he did that often. And that seemed to be where he went wrong.

He silently repeated Pyrrha's advice, "Don't try to force anything. You like her, so if she likes you back, then everything will develop on its own. And if she doesn't, then it _shouldn't,_ anyway. So, stop worrying."

The advice was harsh for Pyrrha, but Jaune appreciated it all the more for it. That's why he repeated to himself multiple times throughout the night, willing himself to calm down and not force date-aspects onto what could easily be a friendly outing.

After all, Ren and Nora were practically married, but Jaune had rarely even seen them hold hands.

Jaune repeated the words to himself again as he admired Ruby's face.

"Hm, you say something?" Ruby turned toward him, and Jaune froze.

The current singer – drunk, as per karaoke tradition – belted out the chorus of some love song, and Jaune silently mused on the cliché while Ruby cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Oh, uh… I was just asking… if you could sing that good?" He tried to play it off like a joke, nodding toward the stage.

She snickered, "Yeah, right, why don't _you_ go up there, Mr. Rockstar?"

He replied dubiously, "I wouldn't want to outshine anyone…"

The resulting laugh lit up the entire room.

. . .

Déjà vu. Jaune realized the familiarity of the situation as Ruby stood before him outside the girl's shared apartment.

He searched her face, looking for the signs Nora had mentioned.

Ruby was carefully keeping her face awkwardly blank. The two stood for a full minute, just staring silently at each other. Neither had faced such deafening silence before.

Jaune found himself sucking in his lips as his companion shifted. He had been expecting – hoping for – some motion toward him.

Ruby denied him, waving quickly and thanking him for the night. She entered the door, and the blonde could hear Yang's voice through the walls. He couldn't understand what was being said, though, and he held no desire to listen in more carefully.

So, he left.

Ruby, however, took the full force of Yang's attention. "I think it went well. We had fun. Cinder's was a bust, but we went to that karaoke café downtown…" Ruby was practically swooning throughout her story. It was clear to her sister that the brunette was completely smitten by her knight's actions.

Jaune later received similar treatment. His recollection went very differently, however.

"I still don't really… _know._ "

Nora complained from inside a pillow fort, and Jaune groaned.

It was clear to the ginger that the blonde would have to work harder to ensnare his maiden's heart.


	7. Banding Moment, Red in the Face

" _ **I'll try to update once a week." He says before taking a ten month break from a story he never thinks about. But hey, better late than never, right?**_

 _ **You know you love my snappy little pre-story commentary.**_

Yang was star-struck. Backstage passes to JNPR's latest show. A gift from the front-man himself. She would get to meet the others. Jaune, he was amazing. His voice, his looks, his gentlemanliness toward her sister – Jaune did not disappoint. But he was also one hundred percent dork, just like Ruby. That lessened the whole "celebrity" thing.

But now Yang would meet Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren, and Nora Valkyrie. The champion, the ninja, and the queen of JNPR.

Originally, it had been Ren and Nora on their own, playing music and having fun. Ren was a silent type, a mediator, the level-headed one who kept the group on track. Nora was the opposite. A loud, brash girl who kept publicity up with odd stunts once they were recognized.

Jaune had come later, and it was then that JNR, pronounced "junior" at the time, began to rise in popularity. He was the one who kept them together, like a rope connecting them – JNPR's golden boy.

Yang grinned as she and her group neared the park where the show was being held. But then there was Pyrrha. A former MMA champion. Due to Yang's penchant for violence and her father's love of sport, a common bonding experience for the blonde Xiao Longs was watching MMA fights on television, and Pyrrha had punched, kicked, and even headbutted her way into their hearts.

And today Yang would meet her. Whoa.

. . .

Pyrrha, last of JNPR to get ready, was in a small tent that served as JNPR's prep room for the show, as it was in the middle of a park. The other three members were sitting down, various stage hands and other workers flitting about them, doing their jobs.

"But if we had fireworks, we could shoot them up during the chorus—"

"No, Nora. Last time we had mid-show pyrotechnics you nearly managed to burn down Lionhart Stadium."

"Yeah, but that was, like, _years_ ago."

"That was two months ago."

Jaune sat with his guitar, watching Ren and Nora's back-and-forth with no small amount of amusement. He remembered fondly the massive fireball that had spiced up that show.

He remembered less fondly the bill they had to foot consequentially.

A knock interrupted the two old friends, and a security worker came by. "There's two girls here. They have backstage passes, so get ready."

"Backstage passes? I wasn't aware we'd offered any for this small a show." Ren replied in a quizzical tone.

"We, ah," Jaune answered as the employee shrugged, "We didn't. I gave a couple to Ruby—"

"Ooh!" Nora left her argument to crowd Jaune, "Your _girlfriend!_ We get to meet her!"

Jaune leaned back as the hyper girl bounced before him, "Yep, so, uh, be on your best behavior."

"Psh," Nora waved at the notion, as if the very thought of _her_ being unruly was so irrelevant, "When am I _not_ on my best behavior?"

"Nora—"

"I'll keep her in check." Ren took his place beside his might-as-well-be-soulmate, and Jaune sighed gratefully.

. . .

Pyrrha emerged from the tent to see her bandmates talking to two complete strangers. Both were young women, and one was so startingly _red_ while one was equally _yellow._ She was thrown for a loop when suddenly there was a lot of color turned her way.

The theme on which they had decided for this show had been color, so the four of them were dressed to the nines in their own color-coded outfits. To suddenly see two strangers similarly colored was jarring.

Jaune, looking regal in his stark white tuxedo, stood from his chair to introduce her.

"Pyrrha, meet Ruby—" Ruby, Pyrrha recognized the name. Only Ren had met her before today. The red girl waved, her smile nervous but no less bright for it. Her sanguine hoodie was unzipped, revealing a darker red shirt underneath. Her crimson skirt skimmed her knees, and even her boots – which _were_ black – had red trim.

"—and her sister, Yang." Yang was slightly taller than Ruby. The most notable aspect was her—hair, Pyrrha decided. Long, golden locks cascaded behind her. Yang's yellow tank top showed other features that Pyrrha was hesitant to address, and the brown skirt that wrapped loosely from her wide hips flared attractively.

"Nice to meet you." Pyrrha blinked. "Wait, why are you here? How did you get past security?"

" _Jauney boy_ here didn't tell us he was giving away free backstage passes." Nora replied cheerfully. The happy ginger twirled in her orange gown as she threw more teasing remarks toward their lead-singer.

Ren shrugged, as if to say, "What're you going to do?"

Jaune, to his merit, did look apologetic. "You guys said you wanted to meet her, so I figured I surprised you all."

Pyrrha glanced at the wide-eyed girl, whose face was beginning to match her outfit. Her sister was leaning over her, whispering something excitedly. Pyrrha wasn't talented at reading lips, but it _seemed_ like she was saying, "They wanted to meet _you_! That's so cool!"

That's what Pyrrha imagined was being said, anyway.

"Oh," the athletic woman said, "Well, it's nice to meet you, Ruby, Yang." She nodded to each in turn to be polite. "I hope you both enjoy the show."

She didn't want to be rude, but she kind of wished the two would leave them to some privacy and come back _after_ the show. She knew how fans could get with questions and autographs and even now the blonde seemed to be gearing up a request that Pyrrha wouldn't be able to politely turn down—

. . .

When Pyrrha Nikos walked out of the tent, Yang hand immediately stepped toward Ruby. As Jaune introduced them, she leaned over excitedly, whispering a question.

Ruby glanced at her sister, eyebrow raised, but didn't respond further than a shrug.

The champion nodded at them, giving a standard greeting, and Ruby then whispered back, "She seems nice, so, maybe?"

Yang stepped forward, giving the red-clad bassist a shining grin, "Will you punch me in the face!?"

"Um, sorry, what?"


End file.
